Uzbekistan

Such a popular president

Islam Karimov gets 91% support

IT WOULD have been too good to be true. With Uzbekistan now the main military ally of the United States in Central Asia and the recipient of $160m in American assistance this year—triple last year's figure—it had been hoped that its autocratic president, Islam Karimov, might just be nudged towards democracy. Fat chance. In a referendum on January 27th strongly criticised by human-rights groups, a scarcely-credible 91% of Uzbek voters supported an extension of the presidential term from five to seven years. The voters also made the parliament bicameral. Whether the extension of presidential duty will apply to Mr Karimov's current term, due to end in 2005, has been left unclear.

Mr Karimov claims that the longer presidential term will strengthen democracy and give Uzbekistan's presidents more time to implement reforms. “You should not put pressure on us,” he recently told a group from the United States Congress.

He has been in office since the Soviet period, and had his first term extended, by referendum, from 1995 to 2000. Then, two years ago, he won a second term with an overwhelming majority in an election regarded in the West as being neither free nor fair. Thousands of opponents have been jailed, most of them accused of Islamic fundamentalism. Uzbekistan has no independent press.

Local critics, who prefer not to be named because of fears for their safety, say that the latest referendum may have been Mr Karimov's way of testing the limits and patience of foreign countries, now that he is an American ally in the anti-terror coalition. An official from America's State Department, on a visit to Uzbekistan, questioned the validity of the referendum and said “human-rights issues” had been discussed with the government. However, any embarrassment the Americans may feel is probably outweighed by their assessment of Uzbekistan's strategic importance. Since the start of the Afghan campaign, over 1,000 American soldiers have been deployed at an air base in Khanabad in the south of the country.

Mr Karimov's ultimate aim, some believe, may be to follow the example of the leader of neighbouring Turkmenistan, and be made president for life.